Tifa's Theme
by Alex DeLarge CW
Summary: What if you were granted one single wish? What would you wish for? Would you change it all? A misterious artifact sets Tifa soon to find out. Time-Travel fic, sort of. Post AC/DoC. Cloti.
1. Dilly Dally Shilly Shally

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. It all belongs to Square Enix. (Unfortunately :/)

_A/N – So, this is my first multi-chapter story and I'm very happy with what it is turning out to be, since I originally started writing it to be a one-shot. Unfortunately it won't be a long one. I'm still on my writing tests process. This is dedicated to my dear cousin who seems to be the only one that actually reads what I write haha. Please, let me know what you think! Salutes! :)_

Tifa's Theme

Chapter 1 – Dilly Dally Shilly Shally

Tifa Lockheart opened her eyes and looked up at the sky to see a beautiful and sunny day in Midgar. The warm breeze tickling her face. All that light seemed to blind her for a moment but she didn't really care. She blinked at the brightness of the sun, the movement leaving black spots clipping her vision; it made a small smile curve up her lips. There were no longer traces of green in the sky since the Mako production has long been stopped. It was still a strange concept to the people of the city, the clean sky popping above their heads, but with all the crisis following the past years, the plate that once covered all the sectors in Midgar was now long destroyed. Darkness didn't follow their path anymore, at least not when it was supposed to be day light instead of night. They actually had a moon to enlighten them.

Even though people would eventually get used to the welcoming sky, Tifa would never cease to admire it. It remained her of a long forgotten childhood and life at her home town up in the mountains. Nibelheim. The thought still brought a knot to her throat, so she shocked her head instead. No point in reminisce on the past anymore.

"Tifa!"

Marlene's cheerful voice caught her attention and woke her from her daze.

She turned around and looked down to the girl in front of her. Marlene was now 10 years old and almost high enough to reach up her chest. She used her hair loose now, right bellow her shoulders with a thin pink ribbon adorning it. She wore a sleeveless white dress with a pink bow around it and white sneakers. Her face still carried soft childish features and Tifa was glad for that. Children seemed to grow so fast and she didn't want that innocent look out of Marlene's face.

"Are you ready, sweetie?" She extended a hand to Marlene, which she gladly took it.

"Yes!" She beamed at Tifa. "I've been waiting the whole week to visit that new shop they're all talking about! They say you can find just about anything in there and there's even–"

She listened to Marlene's carefree chatter, still smiling at the warming sensations the sun brought to her skin.

" –not only do they sell it but it also grants a wish to the person who bought it! Isn't that wonderful? The thought just give me the thrills and I wan– Hey! Tifa!" Marlene cried. "Are you even listening?"

Tifa looked down at Marlene to face the girl's indignant look. She wasn't really listening since sometimes she lost track of the girl's constantly animated blather. Not that she didn't liked to hear her talking, she always did. Marlene had a way to keep everyone hooked at what she said. Today though, she couldn't really fathom why but her mind seemed only vacantly aware of her surroundings. She'd been lost in her thoughts and memories.

"Sure, honey, you were telling me about the thing you want that grants wishes." She took a guess as she caught parts of it after all.

She tangled the girl's arm with hers, comfortably with the touch, while they walked through the streets.

Most of it had already been rebuilt, though some parts had yet to be done. ShinRa Electric Power Company was mostly responsible for it; with all the events from the past and dirty business involving them reveled, the president, Rufus ShinRa and the remaining of the Turks took a role on redeeming themselves with the people in Midgar and the population around Gaia. They have worked along with WRO, still in action and commanded by their fellow friend and former hero, Reeve Tuesti, to repair all of the damage and suffering that ShinRa had done.

With the Mako production stopped, they had to rely on new energy sources to supply power and heat for the entire planet. Barret Wallace had traveled around many places and had discovered Oil out of lands. The new idea was easily harnessed and exploited. It was still new for them and in a way still harmful for the planet, but not as much as sucking away the Lifestream from it. Wind and solar energy were also new exploitable sources they had on the line. ShinRa had agreed on helping with the researches and with developing the ideas and were also providing the necessary equipments for its uses.

Her answer seemed to satisfy Marlene because she kept on track and continuous to elaborate more on the subject of her clearly interest.

"Right!" Marlene exclaimed excitedly. "They say you can have your wish granted with it, but only if you have a pure heart and good intent on it. I wonder– Tifa!" She halted and looked to Tifa expectantly. "What would you wish for?"

Marlene was watching Tifa with curious eyes again. What was it that she said again? Ah! Yes. What would she wish for? Indeed. She hadn't put any thought on it, at least not anymore. She always had wished for her life back home again, that the incident on the reactor had never happened, but after all she's been through it just didn't seemed fair. Look at all of the things she did; they did, together. How many lives had been tangled with hers and might've been changed? Either for better or worse, she could never tell. Marlene and Denzel for example, she would never have met them in the first place since she wouldn't need to move away from her town. They were her family. She couldn't imagine her life without her family and friends. It would only be selfish to try and change the past. But still… What were the possibilities and especially, what were the consequences?

The image of her father popped in her mind. It seemed like forever that she had last thought about him. She missed him dearly and… Her mother… Tifa felt her heart twitch. She couldn't even remember her mother's face anymore. How long has it been? A part of her mind would always wish for a different past; would always wonder.

_What could have been? _

Would she have had departed to Midgar to join AVALANCHE and help saving the world if her father hasn't died on that incident? Would her hate for ShinRa somehow grow over other not so selfish reason that would trigger her to take some action? Would Sector seven not have been blown off and Denzel's family would still be alive? Would Sephiroth not have gone mad, after all? Would Zack and Aerith not have been killed? Would she have met Cloud again?

She forced her mind to stop; a dizziness threatening to overcome her.

"I really don't know, Marlene." She shifted uncomfortably. "What was it that Denzel asked you to buy for him, again?"

She averted her eyes from the girl and quickly changed the subject. Marlene didn't seem to notice her discomfort with the question and she was thankful for that.

"Hmm…" Marlene was thoughtful for a moment and then just shrugged. "He asked me to buy him a _Daily Planet Heroes' _Comic Book. Whatever that is." She grimaced. "Boys!"

Tifa nodded and forced her body to relax. She didn't notice when was it that it had become to be so tense. Luckily, her mind was back to the present.

It was funny how, despite all the things the kids had gone through; they still managed to have normal lives now, and act their own age. Even though it was impossible not to notice how mature they have become over the years.

Denzel had grown into a fine teenage boy. He was 14 years old now. He used his hair a little shorter now and peaked and even assembled Cloud a little, with its own spikes, not defying gravity the same way Cloud's did, but still. He continuous to help Cloud on his routes for the deliveries of the day the same way he always did. He even helped him a little more, with almost everything in hand, like the packages, bike's repair, etc. Denzel was also a loving older brother to Marlene, even though he would never admit it, always teasing her around just about anything. He cared deeply for her, the same way she did. They were an arranged family, but a happy one nevertheless.

Their friends were also a constant in their lives, even though they had kept going with their owns. Nanaki had returned to Cosmo Canyon and took his grandfather's place as local mentor. The town was now an openly known planetarium. Yuffie Kisaragi, the single white rose and princess of Wutai had also returned to her home and along with her father were restoring the glory of it, now that ShinRa had permanently left their lands never to return again. Barret Wallace, despite his quests around the world, would always drop by to make sure Marlene was okay. Vincent Valentine was now openly helping Reeve on WRO's subjects along with Shelke that had volunteered to help as well.

Cloud had kept his delivery service on the run and made a good profit out of it. Transports and mailing were still a problem around Midgar and all over Gaia. He even managed to start a partnership with Cid Highwind to support with large scale cargos. Shera was put up to good use. He had married Shera by the way.

Cloud still lived with her and the kids above Seventh Heaven and you could say that they had progressed a lot with their relationship. They were actually a couple now. It had started innocently, but with time they had come to terms that the walls that separate them were unbearably to be kept. He was not much open about his feelings yet and would still keep shut and monosyllable sometimes, but then, there would be times when he would just hold her face in his hand, so she could drown herself and get lost on the pool of his beautiful cerulean eyes locked on her own mahogany ones; who would make her whole body tremble to the slightest of his touch, and then the same hands would begin to softly caress her cheeks and go down to draw the lines of her lips with the trace of his fingers in it, and gently come closer to seal his lips on hers; and then, his thong would…

"Tifa!"

Marlene caught her daydreaming again. She had a funny look on her face and was chuckling while staring at Tifa. Oh my God! Was she drooling? The thought made her unconsciously raise her free hand to her mouth to clean invisible traces of slobbers.

"What is it, sweetie?" She asked, clearly embarrassed. Cheeks flaming.

"We're here!" Marlene grinned.

They were right in the front of the door to their destination and it would probably have bitten her if it was a living thing instead of rigid, solid and stoic, and she wouldn't even have felt it. Oh, dear! Where was her head, again?


	2. Daily Planet Heroes Say what?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. It all belongs to Square Enix.

_A/N – Hello again and yaaay, I have reviewers! Thank you so much for the support. It is really important for me to know what you think about the story, even if not liking, because criticizes do help a lot. It makes all worthy. Well, I though of adding a little bit of more comedy elements on this chapter since the last one had too much of a nostalgia touch in it. I love comedy, though this might turn out a little bit darker later on! I will be updating the story every Friday because that way I will have time to conciliate it with my job and life, especially to avoid any writer block. Anyway, enjoy it!_

Tifa's Theme

Chapter 2 – _Daily Planet Heroes_. Say what?

Tifa and Marlene were standing outside of a huge building. They were on the sidewalk, both looking mesmerized. Marlene was right, she thought. The place could easily sell just about anything seeing the size of it. Above, a sparkling sign held letters that read '_Odds and Ends – We sell anything!'_.

Subtle.

They could see ahead, behind the thick glass, a vast segment of merchandises displayed through many divided sectors and showcases. It looked no different from a regular Market center, though way bigger, fancier and organized. Nothing like the old sector 6 once held. Just a single thought about the place still gave her the creeps.

She wondered who could own a place like this and afford to run such a large business. Maybe there were many owners that rent a spot to sell their products on. But still, someone had built it on that purpose. It was amazing, not to mention profitable, she thought vaguely. Imagine just how much money one could yield out of it? Her business like mind would never cease to spin around such facts. She owned and ran a bar after all.

Her pride and joy.

_The _Seventh Heaven.

Speaking of which, since she had agreed on bringing Marlene to visit the huge new store, she had the bar closed for the day. In spite of losing the day's paycheck, she couldn't be happier for seeing such a stunned look on Marlene's face. The girl was beyond happy, and for Tifa, that alone was priceless.

Ever since Barret left Marlene to her care, she had become more like a mother to her. Tifa would never regret it. Marlene was the daughter she chose to have and she was glad that the girl had adopted her as well. They completed each other as a family.

Before she could blink again and spare any more thoughts on the matter, she felt Marlene's hand tighten on hers and she was suddenly being dragged along by the girl, inside of the building. It wasn't really that hot outside but she welcomed the changing temperature; a chilling sensation rushed through her skin and she bristled a little.

Marlene kept pushing her into unknown directions, and she distracted her mind again, eyes scanning everything around of their surroundings.

"Tifa! Isn't it beautiful?"

She heard Marlene state excitedly by her side.

"It sure is." She also didn't hide her own excitement on her voice.

"I don't even know where to begin with… There are so many things to see!"

Tifa watched Marlene for a moment. There were probably a whole bunch of things to look around and they had to establish some priorities first or else they would only get lost and spend the whole day and afternoon without really getting anywhere.

"Hmm… How about that; we go look for Denzel's book first and then go on and check the wishing thing you want to see?" She offered; knees folded to level her gaze with the girl's.

Marlene went thoughtful before promptly agreeing. "Okay."

Tifa straighten up to stand again and they walked in the middle of an extended hall; each side of it a different sector could be seen. Their curious eyes were devouring almost everything around. They felt it was incredibly to see all categorized and in order like that. Things were so new and shining. Tifa even had a caution instinct not to touch anything displayed; afraid of damaging it, while Marlene's hand on the contrary seemed to have created a life on their on as they walked freely through miscellaneous things and gadgets.

"How come you never wear any dresses, Tifa?"

The question startled her a bit.

Marlene had dropped Tifa's hand and stopped in front of a Female Clothing's section on the store, which had a beautiful showcase with many different clothes' styles shown. She was skimming her hands through a rack of dresses that were hanging on a particular display set.

"Don't you like it?" Marlene went on absently. "You'd be so beautiful if you wear one. Not that you're not. I'm mean," She stammered with her words "because you are and–"

Tifa shocked her head to cut her.

"I know, sweetie. It's not that I don't like it. It just doesn't seem much practical."

She got hold on a pink dress; a long one, and placed it in front of her body, trying to coordinate the cloth with her own movements. "You see?"

She tried to show her point to Marlene, though her brain traced along other lines.

"I wonder… how she could wea–" She hesitated.

Marlene looked at her expectantly.

"–well… I like my shorts better, that's all."

She put the dress back on the hanger.

Marlene seemed to catch where her thoughts have wondered because she reached Tifa's hand and squeezed it lightly.

"It's okay, Teef." Marlene looked up at her and told her softly. "I miss the flower lady too."

She nodded in surprise, but was comfortable with the touch. The girl never failed to cheer her up and enlighten her mood.

"C'mon Marlene, let's go find Denzel what he wants."

Marlene dropped a dress she had took to try on and grabbed Tifa's hand again to follow her; a happy look on her face.

She didn't remember when the last time she wore a dress was. It was not that she didn't like it though, as she told Marlene, it really was not a practical outfit if you had to fight monsters and creepy villains on a daily basic. Sure, that mini skirt she used to wear on her AVALANCHE days had not been any more practical either, but she had being young then and had kept a little vanity for herself as much as she could.

She had had a favorite dress once, long ago worn and forgotten. It was a blue one, the same blue as those eyes that had stalked her on her childhood years. The same ones that had promised to rescue and help her whenever she was in a bind. The same ones that had promised to be her hero. The same ones that held the promise to be only hers, many years latter…

They came to a stop at the clearly book's section. A beautiful paradise for the readaholics, one could say. Piles of shelves and stands with loads and loads of books and magazines were displayed. All of the sets were themed and separated along specific categories. They had splat up on their way to the infant section to search for Denzel's precious magazine or comic book. Whatever he liked to call it; was both their thoughts.

"Let me see." Tifa pursed her lips, concentrated. "_Daily Planet Heroes_... Where is it?"

She had her face close to a shelf and was scanning it for said magazine when suddenly she was surprised by a poke on her abdomen. She looked to her side to see Marlene standing there.

"Hey, Teef! I found it." She giggled. "Is that Daddy?"

She handed a book to Tifa. Its cover read, _Daily Planet Heroes_.

"Let me see."

Marlene was pointing to the cover where a man with tanned skin much like Barret's was draw. He had short black hair, huge muscles on his arms and chest abroad, since he wasn't wearing any shirt; shaggy green military pants on and black combat boots. Strange enough, he had perfect arms, both of them and instead of a huge gun-arm on his right forearm; he had a bazooka up on his right shoulder, aiming straight.

She averted her eyes to see the full picture on the cover, and had to raise a hand to cover her mouth and stand still so she wouldn't roll on the floor and laugh out loud. Was that supposed to be a joke?

On the cover of the thick comic book, was, with bright colors, a picture of a very interesting group. The funny thing though, was the fact that even if the draw showed exaggerated aspects of the clearly Heroes ahead, they looked mostly as their on group did on her AVALANCHE days, when they ran all over Gaia to save the world from Sephiroth, and tried to stop Meteor from crushing the planet.

"I think they are us!" Tifa was incredulous.

The main character, or how it seemed to be, stood right in the middle of all the others and had an army like outfit and a huge sword on his hand, _a SOLDIER_ portrait, was her first though, followed by _Cloud_ and a chuckle escaped her lips. The character was red-headed but it held gravity defying spikes on his hair the same way his did. His eyes had a flourishing green color, probably a hint in it of the Mako infusion. He had a fighting stance, sword in hand aiming straight with his knees a little bent over. One leg ahead of the other. His semblance was serious. Focused.

There was a blond girl right beside him. She had her whole body sideward and both hands were resting on his left shoulder. One leg folded up and the other one fixed on the ground. She was wearing an almost cover-nothing pink dress; all tighten up to her body showing generous curves, white high heel booty and a yellow daisy clip fixed on her hair. She had a smile plastered on her face and was winking one eye. W_hat?_ How could they portrait Aerith like _that_? She was looking like a naughty baby doll!

There was another female character was on his other side. She also had blond hair, but with a much darker tone. What was this with blondies, anyway? She wore a micro-skirt; mini didn't quite fit its description; a white tank top and she had black buskins on. Her features matched one of an Amazon; tone muscles and a very tall figure. Taller than the red-headed dude. If possible, her breast was bigger than Tifa's. She had a wicked grimace on her face and looked like she was ready to bark. Oh C'mon! Tifa was disgusted. She had never exposed that much belly before. Sure, her clothes didn't hide much from view, but still… And what was she here, a huge-not-decently-dressed-beast? Now instead of amused she was starting to feel a little pissed.

There was a man at their far back; all dressed in an elegant smoking outfit with a long red cape attached to its back. He reminded her of Vincent. His hair had the exactly same length and color, jet black. The only problem was, he had a creepy pose on, with both forearms crossed in front of his chest, and he was actually levitating. That wasn't the worst part though. She narrowed her eyes to watch his face closely and he had, what looked like two pointed and sharp teeth going off of his mouth, one on each corner of his upper lips. _Creepy_! He actually had fangs! Huge ones by the way.

On the creepy looking guy's side stood a short and skinny brunette ninja girl with two small shurikens on both her hands. The hilarious part of it, was that Yuffie had been portrayed exactly as a kid, who looked not much older than 12. A grin formed on her lips, as she could only imagine the indignant look on the girl's face and the outrageous sentence she would come up with. _'How dare they pictures the great and only ninja Yuffie, the single white rose from Wutai, as a baby with two pins on her hand? Whoever did this should consider himself very luck for not crossing my way or else it would be the last thing he ever did! It would only take me 3 and a half second to… or… maybe 2… no! 1 and a half…'_ or something along those lines.

Tifa was now laughing hard and Marlene looked at her with a weird wink. The girl seemed amused with the fact that Tifa could display so many emotions in a short time. Tifa shocked her head dismissively at her and continuous to inspect the comic book cover on her hands. Did Denzel actually like this? What a trash!

"Does Denzel really read this?" Marlene voiced Tifa's question; a grimace on her face.

"I guess he does."

The latest–Cid, that is, was by what-was-supposed-to-be-Barret's side and had short brown hair and huge goggles on his eyes, meaning, really huge! The usual cigarette on his lips was replaced by a cigar. His weapon now was a big and round rod. The old Highwind was also part of the group, spotted on the far background of the picture. The sad thing was that it was not a ship; it was a big balloon. She could only image Cid's face… "_What the #$% & is this $# $? How the hell am I supposed to fly that bucket?"._

Nanaki had been replaced by an imposing gray wolf, with huge fangs shown and looked as if ready to attack at any minute while Cait Sith was simply reduced to being its big robotic moogle. _Poor thing!_

"Can you imagine Cloud's face when he sees that?" Marlene exclaimed.

Tifa muffed a laugh. Marlene beat her to answer.

"Like he's seen a Bahamut with three heads on!"

She looked down at the girl and saw that she was trying to express the face she thought Cloud would have upon looking Denzel's soon to be, peculiar comic book; a very comical look of disbelief.

This time Tifa did laugh. Hard.

"He would definitely throw it away!" Tifa had to agree.

She knew Cloud would never give any credit to such a dreadful magazine.

She wiped her eyes moments after, removing the last remaining tears of her laughing state, folded the comic book and grabbed Marlene, gently, by her forearm.

"C'mon, sweetie, let's buy this thing already."

Marlene nodded in affirmative still giggling. Tifa guided her to the indicated place where they should pay.

"Finally!" Marlene cried moments later.

She snorted and threw her arms theatrically in the air after they left the book's section. "I thought we were never going to leave that place!"

She didn't bother to reply since she knew the girl was just goofing around. Both of them started walking and back tracked their steps through the hall in search of the store that held Marlene's desired wish-maker thing.

As soon as they found it, she let Marlene enter the large artifact and weird old-stylish-things section ahead; a very excited look on her face as she ran away for her quest. So full of life, Tifa thought.

She didn't followed Marlene inside, finding instead a nice bench outside to rest; set between two large sections. She made way to sit.

At one side of the bench was the artifacts section Marlene had entered and since she was sited right in the front of it, she could lay her eyes and watch for when the girl left, while on the other side…

Tifa turned her head to see what kind of section there was and had to lift a hand to cover her mouth to stop her from gasping.

Right there, inside of the section, on a far corner, was one of the most beautiful things Tifa had ever laid eyes on.


	3. The melody within

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. It all belongs to Square Enix.

_A/N – Hello again! I got over loaded with my work this week so I could not edit the last chapter or this one properly, I'm very sorry about that! I'd like to thank all of you again for the support on the story, especially the reviews! Yay! I got followers and reviewers! Thanks __Sayaka M__, for the tips. I'll make sure to keep track of that next week. Then, enjoy _

Tifa's Theme

Chapter 3 – The melody within.

Tifa Lockheart was staring at an entirely section of instruments.

She rose from the bench she was previously sat on and her feet took her unconsciously right to the entrance of it. It had a very large proportion and a vast amount of instruments; all from different materials and with different details and finishes. Guitars, violins, drums and even harps were displayed but her focus was directed only to one object in particular.

A piano.

She didn't notice but her face had lit up and she had a huge smile on her lips the whole walk. After entering the section, she stopped in front of a beautiful and glossy concert grand piano. It was a traditional old-style one, made entirely of black wood. Its lid was open, showing small felt-covered hammers connected to many strings. The keyboard was shut. A piano stool from the same wood material was aligned in the front.

Tifa felt as if the object of her desire was calling her out to touch it and play it; like a low whisper on her ear. Which, she promptly answered, carefully guiding her hands to open the lid of the shut keyboard.

The piano black keys set was made from ebony and the white keys covered with strips of ivory. 88 of them – total.

She traced her finger softly through all the keys, without really taking any sound out of it. Her fingers were barely touching the surface.

"Excuse me,"

She heard a lady calling her from behind. It startled her.

She turned around, dumbfounded and looked at woman, "Hn…?"

"Can I help you, miss?"

The lady smiled kindly at her and Tifa found her senses back a minute later.

"Can I play it?" She hurriedly asked.

She did not hide the excitement from her face.

"Oh! Please." The lady gestured for Tifa to sit on the stool. "Take your time."

She quietly sat down on the stool that was standing in front of the piano, adjusting her body on to a comfortable position.

"Thanks." Tifa had a smile herself.

The lady left her alone with the piano so she could feel at ease with it. How could she sell her products if her clients did not try out its standards? Quality always had to be the motto within a business line.

Tifa was glad that the rest of the store seemed to be empty and the piano was set at a far away corner of it, mostly hidden from the view outside. She was also glad that the saleswoman had left her alone as well. That way she could loosen up a bit considering the fact that her skills have not been put for practice on ages.

At first, she just stood there, sited, admiring the piece of art in front of her. She couldn't organize her feelings and thoughts since all of them felt like a big and threatening wave swirling inside of her belly. She signed. Why did she suddenly feel so nervous?

She smoothed her hands along the keyboard, as if to remove invisible dust out of it. One of her finger shyly tapped a white key. The sound made her thrill. It was a bit strange to listen to it after so many years and her brain rushed for her memories to surface.

She had stopped playing after Sephiroth had killed her father. Her house and all the stuff in it had been burned out on the flames that consumed the whole town – her hometown – on the incident at the reactor. So, eventually, her piano was among it. Her hatred for ShinRa was so great that she had abandoned her previously life and dreams to reach Midgar and have her revenge on the company. Her will to play had also been lost on the process.

She risked another note, and soon one more after. In a while, it was all making sense again. The notes gathered to form chords, slowly molding themselves into a sweet and sorrowful melody. It reminded her of her childhood and she felt nostalgic for the second time that day.

In the blink of an eye, her mind processed the image of a clear blue sky and a chilling sensation from the mountains rose on her skin. She smiled. She was a country girl after all.

Her eyes automatically closed and she welcomed her old memories in. Friends long forgotten, on days she would just run and play without a care in the world. A shy and young blond boy with beautiful cerulean eyes looking from the distance, afraid of mingling and staring at her window without her even realizing or feeling his presence there.

She remembered her master, Zangan, and the time she focused her mind into learning how to fight. No. She had wanted to be stronger. She didn't want to feel powerless anymore. She wanted to protect those she loved; she wanted to protect herself and to never be afraid again. Especially after that night Cloud had told her he was leaving town to become a SOLDIER, right bellow a beautiful starry night, which she told him that she wanted to experience the feeling of having her hero recue her at least once.

She had been so worried about him by that time when he left. She would always check the papers in search of news about him.

She remembered her loving and carrying father's face, always worrying that she might get hurt again.

_Again… _

In an instant she was back in Nibelheim, running into Mt. Nibel in search of her… Her friends had abandoned her but she kept running because she wanted to climb the whole mountain; she had to… she needed to see her one more time. Why had she gone there? Why did she leave her alone?

Her face had contorted over the vivid memories but she was not aware of it. The chords got higher and deeper as she merged back in time.

She knew she was not entirely alone; there was a boy there, a familiar face, one she could never forget. He called out her name but she didn't dare to stop. She couldn't. She ran over the trail of the mountain, skipping the wild monsters that got in her way.

But then, she fell, they fell, and the pain? There was none.

Peace. She felt a moment of peace.

She heard in the back of her head her father's laugh. They were laughing together. A warm feeling filled her. A happy moment locked inside of her.

She also heard a woman calling her and she felt like her heart would stop the moment after; an icy sensation all over her body. She was numb. And there, on bright colors, she saw her mother's face. She remembered it. She couldn't feel happier to see mahogany eyes as her own staring warmly back at her. She truly looked like an angel in Tifa's opinion.

She knew she was dreaming awake as she could still listen to the music playing as tough a background track on an old movie. She didn't mind, because it made her feel good nevertheless.

She knew she could never have avoided her mother's death as well because she was so young back then. Only 8 years old. She was only a child. It didn't make her feel less impotent but she had come to terms with it long ago. She would forever miss her, but Tifa knew that her mother was back to the Lifestream now. Waiting for her when her time came… Waiting for them be reunited.

She tried to reach for her mother's figure ahead but it was in vein. She was not able to. So, she stood there, a while, with her hands moving on their own playing that lost melody, just admiring the vision in front of her.

Suddenly she felt her cheeks getting wet as she realized she had started to cry. She saw her mother extend a hand to touch her face and gesture to wipe the tears away. It looked so real that she had the sensation of actually feeling her touch on her face. Was she real, somehow? Was her mind playing tricks on her?

"Tifa?"

_Mom?_

Her hands quickly came to a stop, interrupting the song.

Silence.

She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to the side a bit but it wasn't her mother there. No. She was back on the reality now and her mother was now gone. Her face a blur. What she did see was Marlene and she was staring at her. Her faced was a mix of worry and something else, something… what was that, fear?

Marlene lowered her body to level her face with Tifa's. She had been the one that touched her cheeks to wipe the tears rolling down from her eyes, Tifa noticed. How easily was she mistaken by an illusion?

"Why are you crying?" Marlene looked on the verge of tears herself.

Why does Marlene looked sad?

Tifa felt like kicking herself for showing so much vulnerability in front of the girl. Marlene was afraid for her. She absorbed Tifa's emotion into her own. She was supposed be the strong bond and look after the girl. Protect her from any harm. Not the other way around. Where had her strength gone to? When had she come back to being weak?

"No, Marlene… I –"

She chocked on her words.

She was embarrassed.

Tifa inhaled deeply. She took a moment to recover herself and wiped the rest of the tears from her face. She smiled to Marlene and saw the girl's face relax a bit.

"I–It's just… I haven't played for so long that I got a bit carried away. That's all"

She avoided the girl's eyes.

"Are you sure?" Marlene eyed her suspiciously.

"Yes, sweetie, I'm okay already." She lied.

Marlene had her arms crossed over her chest and for every outside viewer she was the one that looked like the responsible head. She seemed about ready to scold Tifa at any minute.

"Well… you do seem a little off today."

"I guess I do." Tifa faked a smile.

Marlene was not fooled by it but at the moment she was about to query Tifa about it she beat her to it.

"Now, tell me… did you find what you were looking for?"

Tifa winked at the girl and Marlene's face flashed from concern to euphoric in a second. She was so easily distractive, Tifa couldn't help but smirk.

It was not fair to trick Marlene like that but it was Tifa's role to free the girl's mind from the problems of the world, especially hers. She had long suffered with the crisis from the past and she deserved to have a normal childhood and worry herself with only trivial stuff; childish problems. As much mature she was; she didn't need to be.

"I did!" Marlene shouted.

Curiosity took the best of her. "What is it?"

Marlene quickly reached for the bag that had been hanging on her forearm the whole time and took a small package out of it. "Look!"

She handed the package to Tifa who looked at the girl waiting for the permission to open it. Marlene nodded her okay and Tifa unfolded it.

Inside of the unfolded package was a small amulet of some sort. It was entirely made of bronze or so it looked liked and for incredible as it seemed, it was lighter than it was supposed to be.

Tifa had a puzzled look on her face and shook her hand up and down to weight it.

Marlene caught the cue.

"The lady told me it is because of its magic. You will know when it had taken hold of your wish when you feel it get heavier. You have to believe it tough; otherwise it is just a regular pendant. You have to focus and think–".

As she calmly explained about the proprieties of the object as if she was a renowned expert on the subject, Tifa got a better look on it to inspect it.

It was a round piece of pendant. It had a strangely thin and symmetric spiked shape on the borderline, and in the middle the surface was smooth with a shaped uplift and crooked starfish that had a tiny hole in the center.

She was vaguely aware of Marlene's voice now. What was she saying, again? Tifa couldn't quite catch the topic anymore. She had her eyes glued on the small object on her hand and lost sight of the world around her. She had the weird sensation of being pulled into the hole in the center of the crooked starfish.

_Silly_, wasn't it? She obviously could not fit in there, but it kept attracting her body to it, pushing it like they were, – the amulet and her – different poles of magnets.

She couldn't blame it on anything other that her mind being oddly off the whole day. She had been day dreaming their entire ride and couldn't concentrate on anything for more than 5 minutes. Strangely enough, she had been hooked on thoughts of her past for far too long.

Every girl must have its moody days, she thought.

As if to prove her point, her mind traveled back to her past again and back to the day that all had changed in her life. The day everything she had was brutally taken away from her. The day she was consumed by an uncontrollable hate. The day she felt a scathing pain and was marked forever.

_Could that have been different?_

She unconsciously brought a hand to her chest. Even though she had her clothes on she swore she could feel her scar through the fabric.

She turned her head up, taking her gaze away from the amulet to look back at Marlene but what she saw made her eyes go wide in astonishment.

She was no longer at the instrument sections she had been. Marlene was nowhere to be found. And what was more terrifying of all things, there was nothing around her. She was stuck on her place and all she came aware of was white.

A white light that soon brighten her vision to the point where she tough she had gone blind.

What was all of this?

Where was she?

What happened?

Had she finally gone mad?

_Where am I?_

She though of Cloud for a moment, remembering his beautiful eyes and hidden smiles on the corner of his lips that he would share only with her. She wanted to cry, but couldn't.

She felt a shiver run through her spine and suddenly her mind went blank.

Nothing.

She could think of nothing.

She felt the air escape her lungs and choked before her whole world came to black.

Darkness consumed her.


End file.
